E.FE.02.14Describe the properties (hard, visible, freezing, ice) of water as a solid (ice, snow, iceberg, sleet, hail).

By Megan Baker and Lisa Olson

Water as a Solid Lesson Plan

Engage1. Read: Snowflake Bentley

2. Snowflake Observations *weather permitting*

Students catch and examine real snowflakeswith magnifying glasses. Students will drawand write about what they see on their organizer.

If weather does not permit actual observations, students will look at examples of some different types of snowflakes in a power point.

(Student Power Point included in this presentation slides 4-11 )

Engage

Q’s: What do you notice about these snowflakes? What do they all have in common?

Answers: 6 sided, ice crystals, ornate.

Q’s: If you touched one would it be warm or cold? Would it melt on your finger tip? Answers: They are cold, they would melt if we touch them.

What are some Characteristics of snow flakes?

Six sided Cold!

No two alike

There are many

different types of Snow Flakes

Simple Prisms   A hexagonal prism is the most basic snow crystal geometry.Simple prisms are usually so small they

can barely be seen with the naked eye.

These common snowflakes are thin, plate-like crystals with six broad arms that form a star-like shape. 

Stellar Plates

Dendritic means "tree-like", so stellar dendrites are plate-like snow crystals that have branches. 

These are fairly large crystals, that are easily seen with the naked eye.

Stellar Dendrites

Hexagonal columns often form with conical hollow regions in their ends, and such forms are called hollow columns.  These crystals are very small. Hollow Columns

Plates sometimes grow as truncated triangles when the temperature is near -2 C (28 F).  These crystals are relatively rare.

Surprisingly, no one knows why snow crystals grow into these three-fold symmetrical shapes.

Triangular Crystals

12-Sided Snowflakes

Sometimes capped columns form with a twist.  The two end-plates are both six-branched crystals, where two crystals grow joined.

ExploreActivity #1Compare and Contrast Students examine and compare snow (crushed ice if snow is not available), ice and water.

Observations should include: ice is solid watersolid water floats (icebergs)ice is “white, clear or opaque”water is a liquidice/snow is coldsnow/crushed ice is compactable solid water is visible

Students will record their data on an organizer. 

Explore

Activity #2:Sink or Float

Students will conduct an experiment using several household items, ice cubes and crushed ice to see if they sink or float.Student observations should include:

ice cubes floatcrushed ice floatsmarbles, paperclips, erasers sink

Students will record their findings on an organizer.

Explain

Discuss with the class what they found. Write their findings down on the board

or overhead as a word splash. Define vocabulary together.

Ask the class a few questions:In Michigan, what time of year do we get rain?When do we get snow?Why don’t we get snow in the summer?What other kinds of precipitation do we get in the winter in Michigan?

Elaboration:Activity #3Students will make Oobleck and decide whether they think it’s a solid or liquid using what they know about these states. Take a vote of which category your class thinks it fits into. Discuss.

Oobleck is cornstarch and water in a 2 to 1 ratio. Oobleck is a fun way for children to explore the properties of a substance (a “non-Newtonian fluid”)that can exhibit the properties of both a liquid and a solid.

Evaluation:Evaluations will be based on class

participation, involvement in discussions, and their observations on their graphic

organizers.

1.Snowflake Observation Sheet

2.Compare and Contrast Sheet

3.Sink and Float Sheet

References:

Snow Flake Bentley by Jaqueline Briggs MartinPublished by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2009) 

Oobleck recipe came from Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/class/class.htm